


At the bottom of the concrete

by Quinn_Curtis



Category: Scorpion (TV 2014)
Genre: A bit angst with funny moments, Canon Compliant, F/M, Gen, It's Scorpion after all, No descriptions but be careful if you are claustrophobic or you have trouble in breathing, One Shot, Open Ending, Quintis - Freeform, spoiler free
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-04-11
Updated: 2018-04-11
Packaged: 2019-04-21 14:10:08
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,118
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14286618
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Quinn_Curtis/pseuds/Quinn_Curtis
Summary: A catastrophe avoided for a life at risk. That was pretty much the deal they made with the world.The only thing they could do was to wait for the rest of the team to pick them up.However, nothing goes right with Scorpion and they didn't know how or why that hole was now filling with cement.





	At the bottom of the concrete

**Author's Note:**

> This is somehow angst. Don’t read if you are claustrophobic or you have trouble in breathing. There aren’t many descriptions, but you can still imagine the feeling and maybe it won’t be good if you suffer those.  
> This is clearly inspired by the end scene of one of the film I hate/love: “Jeux d’Enfants (Love me if you dare, in English)”. At first I wanted to create a story based on the game they play “Cap ou pas cap?” that means pretty much “Are you game?”, then I just thought that a situation like the end could happen in the show.  
> Sooo, here some pain for you.  
> As always, not native etc, etc, so horrors on me, etc, etc. But always feel free to correct me, comment and enjoy!  
> QC

A catastrophe avoided for a life at risk. That was pretty much the deal they made with the world.  
Every time they were so close to say “it's done”, something came up.  
Or down, in this circumstance.  
The case was closed and Toby was trying to bend a strip of fabric around his scratched arm when that bloody box exploded in front of him.  
The wave of the explosion hit him so hard that he was scattered so near the edge of that narrow dip into the ground.  
Happy rushed toward him and just when she pulled him up, another explosion blew.  
They couldn't find any handhold.  
Toby fell down into the hole and Happy followed him.  
It didn't seem so bad at the beginning.  
They were a bit hurt, but nothing too serious.  
The only thing they could do was to wait for the rest of the team to pick them up.  
However, nothing goes right with Scorpion and they didn't know how or why that hole was now filling with cement.  
They tried to climb the wall, to reach the edge, to stop the flux.  
Nothing seemed to work.  
And the team was too far away.  
  
  
  
“Walt? Walter? The cement is coming down faster and this space is very tiny.” Toby spoke quickly, as he always did when he was scared or worried.  
And he was both.  
“Define faster, Toby!” Sly exclaimed through the comms.  
“I don’t know, just faster!” His tone was tough, but he didn’t want to snap at Sylvester. Happy intervened and started to reply with some calculus about time and surface.  
As Toby listened to Sly’s monologue while doing math, realization hit him.  
Their chances were low.  
“Just listen to me, guys.” Walter voice echoed through the comms. “Don’t lower your head! Keep your face toward the exit on the top and breathe slowly.”  
A spurt of cement reached Toby’s arm and he lowered his gaze to look at the floor that was almost covered.  
He took a step and he tried to push Happy to that part of the ground that seemed higher than the rest.  
She was still mumbling something in her comm and she didn't notice the drops of cements on their clothes.  
They were in danger and they didn't know how to fix the situation.  
“Okay. Apparently we can’t do much. Walt? Sly?” Happy called them as she put her hand on her comms to hear them better. “Got news?”  
“Some.” Sylvester replied. “But we need more time.”  
“Hey Sly!” Toby exclaimed. “What if Happy climbs on my shoulder before the cement reaches her? I’m 6ft even, she’s 5ft 3. She can gain some time!” He explained as he looked up, then he aimed at her. “You can be closer to the exit.” He suggested as he put his hands on her shoulders.  
“Well, we are not that far yet, but that’s not a bad idea!” Sly declared.  
“Yes, it is.” She objected.  
“But…”  
“No.”  
She was stubborn, Toby knew that, but if there was a chance to save her, he would have done everything to take it.  
He tried to grab her by her waist and pull her up, to make her stay a bit raised than him, but she protested.  
“Don't you ever do that again.” She said with a vexed expression and poked him on his chest.  
She was angry.  
Toby could understand her position, he would have done the same. He would never allow her to stay literally below him in a higher risk of danger.  
“Okay,” he nodded. “Just, step closer.”    
“What?”    
“Step closer, please.” He tried to move but he couldn't. He was already stuck. Happy moved a foot and it was heavy. The cement was starting to lock her too.  
She quickly made a step toward him. They were merely inches apart.  
  
  
  
Everyone was in a rush. Cabe was busy with making calls here and there. Sylvester and Walter were calculating and studying the faster way to pull them out, while Paige was trying to lighten the mood by talking about scarf and hats.  
Toby widened his eyes and started to search for something on the ground. He stopped when he found his hat, drowned into the cement. He hadn’t realized until that moment that he wasn't wearing it.  
Happy followed his gaze, then she looked up at him.  
“I’ve spent a week on the research.” She said. “I couldn't find the right one. I remember I almost changed idea when the third, and last, site with that model, sold out the size I needed.” She smiled. “I think my dad has been one of the first people to see that somehow, I liked you.”  
Toby raised his eyebrows in that familiar way.  
“Really?”  
She nodded.  
“He was puzzled about my determination in finding the perfect hat to gift to ‘a friend’.” She air quoted her last words. “He told me that he couldn't understand if I was scared that you wouldn’t have appreciated the gift or that you would have appreciated it too much to figure out how much effort I put into finding it.”  
Toby smiled so brightly that she was affected too.  
“I knew you were falling for me!” He said. “And not to be sappy, but I really like that hat.”  
“I’ll buy you another one when we get out of here.”  
“If…” Toby lowered his gaze, his voice trembling.  
Happy was bewildered. She wasn't used to seeing him in such a state. He was always up for being positive and lighten the mood.  
“Hey,” she called him. “What happened to the A of our dear, old PANNS?”  
“It doesn't work when we will be embedded in cement up to the calves in a few moments.” He took a deep breath.  
“Look, Happy.” He used a serious tone. Too serious. “W-when the cement will come to our ribcage level, it will push on the ribs. We will feel like someone is crushing us. It will be painful. I- I don't want you to feel this.” He explained. “I think we can still try to make you climb on my shoulder. You just...”  
“Don't.” She shook her head. “I’m not climbing you first, because I won't leave you and then, because I think it's too late to move me.”  
She looked down. When he pulled her up she gained a few inches, but half of her shoes were covered, while his were totally down.  
“Guys? Our legs are stuck and this is not pleasant.” Happy dragged the attention on them.  
They heard a typing sound, then Sylvester voice came in. “Density?” He demanded.  
“High.” Happy answered. “I can barely feel my toes.”  
“The cement must be squashing your shoes and entered in.” Cabe explained.  
“It's not pleasant at all.” Toby intervened. “Sly, when I told you, you owed me a statue, this is not what I meant!”  
  
  
  
Paige was talking with someone on her phone as the cement was starting to reach their knees.  
“Florence! Thank God you're here!” They heard her saying after she had hung up.  
Cabe asked Florence if she knew what was going on and her answer was affirmative.  
Florence’s voice came stronger as she said that Walter told her everything, she was putting on a comm too.  
“Happy, Toby.” She called.  
“Hey, Flo!” Toby greeted her. “How you doin’?”  
“Fine, thanks but it's Florence and I’m not here for conversation.”  
She came up beside Sly’s desk and grabbed a pen from his pen holder. “Happy, we have the specific of the composed, but I need to know more. Can you estimate the temperature?”  
“Ehm, no?” Happy affirmed.  
“I do.” Interceded Toby. “Based on my body temperature, the cement feel slightly warm.” He said. “We’ve been here for a while and I feel a bit hot, and not due the proximity to my wife.”  
Happy shot him an admonishing look.  
“But,” he kept going ignoring her. “I’m not sweating. That means that we are in a range of 96°F to 100°F.”  
“Okay, way more than I expected, but we can still use that chemical.” Florence told them.  
She wrote something down, then she called Walter.  
They started to talk about some elements that combined together could recreate a solvent able to dissolve the cement in a few seconds but that won't hurt them physically.  
Florence had those elements in her lab but she needed a stronger centrifuge to mix the whole compound, so they needed to act quickly to get into another lab in time.  
“Sylvester, I need your help with numbers.” Flo said and he nodded. “Walter and I will make a huge amount of solvent, but as we go to the lab to mix everything, you need to help me figure out how many litres we need to dissolve the cement that will be up to a specific level.” She explained.  
Sly nodded once again. “We know the surface area of the hole, the density of the cement and how many of it fall in a precise amount of time. I can calculate the covering per cubic meter depending on when you arrive at the lab, and give you a precise estimate of the quantity.”  
“Sounds great! I'll give you the amount per single cubic meter so you can do the proportion.”  
Flo wrote down some details for Sly and she left with Walter.  
“Toby, Happy,” Sylvester started. “You must tell me if something changes. If the pressure, or the temperature, or the volume change. We will get you out of there. Believe me.”  
Toby didn't doubt a second his friend's words.  
“Hey, Sly,” he said then. “Could you please call me on my phone?”  
Toby didn't wait for a reply, he took off his comm and grabbed his phone from the back pocket of his jeans.  
He picked up the call at the moment it came in. “Sly, I can't hear you because my phone's inner speaker died when I fell, but I know you can hear me. You need to mute our comm’s microphones so I can hear you through that and only you can hear me through my phone.”  
Toby put again his comm in his ear and waited.  
“Done.” He heard a few moments later.  
“Hey, pal.” He said as Happy looked at him perplexed. “I need to say something to you, but I don't want everyone to hear that. You don't have to reply, just listen, and this is the only way I thought about.”  
Toby moved his pupils toward to the corner of his eyes like if he was pointing at his ear.  
Happy shook her head in understanding. He wanted to be sure no one except Sylvester, and her, could hear him.  
“Do you remember what I told you in the Russian spa?” Toby asked. “I do believe what I said, but you need to make that happen.”  
He lowered his voice, like he always did when he was telling something too personal to someone.  
“I know how you feel about Megan and the whole situation, but if you don't take a step toward Florence, she will slide away.”  
Toby heard background sounds, Sylvester was surely uncomfortably shifting on his chair. He could imagine him.  
“You work better together and you understand each other, and believe me, that's important.”  
He glanced at Happy.  
“You deserve to be happy, Sly. Just like the rest of us.”  
“I tried.” Sylvester confessed. “You know that.”  
“I do.” Toby confirmed. “But I also know who you are and even if sometimes, you still seem like the sixteen scared Sly.” Toby closed his eyes and sneered. “We all know how much you’ve grown.”  
“Thank you, Toby.” Sylvester voice was trembling, and even Happy understood that he was trying to not tear up.  
Silence fell and Toby was about to say to turn their comms back to theirs full functioning when Happy stopped him, if this was their ending, she needed to say something too.  
“Is there Cabe around?” She asked to Sylvester.  
“Can you please give him your phone?” She demanded after she had received a positive response.  
“Hey Pops,” she called when Cabe picked up the phone. “If we don't make it, I need you to do a thing for me.” She spoke in a breath. “Behind Toby’s desk at home, there is a box labeled ‘Dad’. You need to give it to Patrick when he gets out. It's a gift and a thing he needed, I want to make sure he will receive it.” She explained.  
“Kid. You'll make it. You‘re going over the top. You both are.” Cabe replied.  
“Just do that, okay?” She said with a tough tone.  
He mumbled a noise of affirmation.  
“Thanks, Cabe.” Happy softened her voice. “For everything.”  
  
  
  
“You know what I was thinking?” Happy asked as Toby was mumbling a slow song on his own.  
“Shrink, not mind reader.” Toby replied pointing to himself.  
“Idiot, not genius.” She stated, taking the mickey. She pinched his arm and he squealed like a child.  
“Ouch. I didn't deserve that.” He whined.  
“You did, ‘cause you ruined my moment.” She crossed her arms.  
“Okay, I did deserve that.” He agreed with her, then he waited for Happy to go on with her thinking, but she didn't.  
“So?” He demanded.  
“The moment’s gone.”  
Toby raised his eyebrows with an incredulous expression. “You really want to play that card now?” He opened his arms and pointed to their cemented legs. “Honey, I’m trying to stay positive but my mind is 70% gone into bad thoughts. So,” Toby raised a finger in front of her face. “I make jokes. Or,” he added a second finger. “Actually I don't have a ‘or’, wisecracking is my best defense.” He shrugged his shoulders and lowered his arm.  
“And this silence is killing me! Team, can we have some music or something?” He complained with the whole cyclone.  
“Not a chance.” Cabe replied. “And don't try to convince us by singing, Doc.”  
Toby raised his eyebrows.  
“I would never.” He said, falsely offended.  
Happy smiled and instinctively passed her arms around his torso. She pulled him to her, even if it seemed like they were balancing each other with their bodies.  
The cement reached her thighs and they were able to move only their upper bodies.  
Toby reciprocated the hug. He didn't know what that was for, but he couldn’t refuse a hug from his wife.  
“Is this a way to prevent a singing performance?”  
“I’m lucky.” Happy responded.  
“That you don't have to hear me sing?”  
She burst in one of her spontaneous laugh and nodded. “Yeah. But,” she lowered her voice. “Lucky that I’m not here alone.”  
He tightened the grip around her shoulders even more and started to swing to the left and right, following an imaginary cheerful rhythm in his head.  
“Hey,” Toby told her after a few instants. “Be proud of me.”  
“Why?” She asked.  
“I was about to say a bad joke but I shushed myself, see?” He moved just that bit to look at her. “I care about not ruin our moments.”  
“Sorry to interrupt.” Sylvester apologized, inserting into their conversation.  
“Because Scorpion doesn’t care about ruin our moments, that’s what we’re best at.” Toby exclaimed right after.  
“If you care to still have moments, you want to hear this. We found a solution to slower the cement’s fall.”  
  
  
  
“Guys? Your status?”  
“Married.” They said in unison, bringing back Happy’s joke on their first case as husband and wife. They smiled.  
A flash of light in the darkness.  
“Okay.” Said Walter surely puzzled. “We’re almost to the chem lab. Florence’s ready to create the mix.”  
“As much as I trust Florence’s knowledge.” Toby replied. “I don't think you’ll be fast enough.”  
The light went off.  
“What the hell is happening to you?” Happy burst. “I’m the destroyer, not you.”  
He frowned his eyebrows. “90% gone, I believe.”  
Happy was right but in that moment he couldn’t help himself.  
Lots of thoughts meandered in his mind and just like Sylvester did when they were lost on the island, he came to terms with the realization that they were dying and those were their last moments together.  
He put his hands on her cheeks and then hugged her as best he could. The cement was at his hips levels.  
“Somehow I’m glad you're not pregnant. Not that you would have been here on a mission with us if you were pregnant, but…” He paused for a moment. “I don’t know how Paige manages that.”  
He stopped. He was waiting for a reply through their comms.  
“I don’t.” They heard after a few moments. “I just hope.”  
He sighed.  
“Only the thought of leaving an imaginary child, makes me sick to my stomach.”  
Happy took his train of thought. Their job was always a Russian roulette.  
She never thought about that until then. She wanted a baby and she wanted a family, but could all that be possible despite their work?  
They couldn’t quit the job just because their duo became a trio and they couldn’t be exonerated from their missions only to avoid that a potential baby remained orphan.  
Analyzing the concept, Happy began to realize that those breathless hugs Paige reserved for Ralph after a case, weren't just because she was grateful to see him again.  
  
  
  
“Keep your arms up. Don't let the cement block them.” Toby ordered.  
Happy raised her arms and rounded his neck.  
The cement was at their waist level.  
Toby did the same and left his arms on her shoulders.  
They were wrapped in each other, but Toby’s last move caused his shirt to rise.  
He had wedged it on his jeans but apparently neither cement could keep it in place.  
The cement reached and touched his bare skin, and he jumped in surprise.  
It wasn't a good feeling, even if the cement was hot, he could sense a shiver going on his spine.  
“What's up?” Happy demanded when she saw his reaction.  
“Even the concrete likes to touch me”.  
She shot him a confused glare then she looked down at his belly but it was already covered.  
“My shirt slid up.” Toby explained.  
“You always wear those short tee!” Happy scolded him. “Every time you raise your arms, it slides up and let your skin be exposed. It could be dangerous. Your abdomen and your lower back are a free to go.”  
Toby remained wrong-footed by her response.  
She was way too worried and maybe she overreacted, but every time they were on a mission and she noticed this peculiarity, she couldn't stop herself from thinking that there was nothing that could protect his skin.  
A knife, a gun, even a flame could have free way into his side and hurt his inner organs and him.  
“Not that your tank top are less revealing, Wifey.” He dragged her away from her thoughts.  
“Like you mind them.” She shot back.  
“Well, you like my revealing shirt too. I’ve caught you wandering on me.”  
“Why I feel like this is a conversation we don't want to ear?” Paige asked to herself. “Lovebirds, you’re on comms. Just a reminder.”  
Happy and Toby ignored her and kept talking about their clothes.  
“Oh god, why they always have to be so open.” She demanded then to Sylvester.  
“At least you haven't heard them talking about their.” He coughed. “Put a baby in me already time.”  
“That was your fault Sylvester!” Exclaimed Toby as soon as he heard Sly’s last sentence. “Don't come to the roof, means that you don't have to come to the roof.”  
“How was I supposed to know that you wanted to... ”  
“No, no, no, stop.” Paige blocked them. “I don't want to know. I don't want to imagine. I’m good like that.”  
“Not good.” Intervened Happy.  
“No, I’m good, Happy.”  
“No! Not good!” She almost screamed. “Sly!” She said prolonging the ‘S’ as she often did. “Something changed.”  
“What?” He hurried.  
“The cement is hotter.” She explained.  
“It burns a bit on the skin,” Toby added. “But even worse is that it’s drying out faster.”  
“How much it is now?”  
“I think around 104 or 105°F.” Toby said, cursing the fact that he wasn’t wearing his jacket.  
The feeling of something drying up on the bare skin of his torso was annoying enough to make him realize that he didn't want to feel that on his arms too.  
“Never thought I would be able to say such a thing to you, Sugarplum.” He told Happy. “But, don't remove your jacket.”  
  
  
  
He was right. It hurt like hell. She couldn't have room to manoeuvre to breathe. The pressure was high and she found herself taking quick breaths.  
The faster the cement dried, the more it weighed.  
“How did you know the feeling?” She asked and moving only her head she pointed to her sternum.  
“Some bookies are still attached to old methods and a kinda heavy block of cement on your chest is one of those.”  
Happy was about to say something but Walter interrupted her with news. “Guys, stay still. We’re on our way with the chemics.”  
“As if we have other options, Boss.” Happy replied.  
The car’s engine turned on and Walter used the screeching sound of the tires to cover a low “Guys. I’m sorry.”  
“Don't blame yourself, One Ninety Seven. This time it's not your fault.”  
“No, I’m sorry about all the bad situation I’ve put you in.” Walter explained. “Your dialogue with Paige made me realize that we spend most of our days in danger and this is mostly my fault.”  
“We're a team, Walter.” Paige affirmed. “We have already discussed that.”  
“Yeah, but Toby and Happy weren't almost dead.”  
“Geez, thanks Boss.” Happy shot. “Do you have already hired a new shrink and a mechanical genius?” She jested.  
“Happy, I know I said that no one is indispensable, but I would never...”  
“Keep calm, Irishman.” She blocked him. “I was joking.”  
Walter mumbled.  
“Oh shit.” They heard into the comms. “Sorry.” They heard again.  
“What's going on?” Paige asked worried.  
“I run with yellow light.” Florence admitted.  
“Really Flo?” Toby said. “I've seen you driving like only Happy could be able to do, and now you're worrying about a yellow?”  
Toby raised his eyebrows in disbelief.  
“That is the exact reason why I’m worried about a yellow.” She explained. “I don't want to do community service with you ever again in my life.”  
“Thanks, Flo!” He thanked her ironically as he puffed, but his voice cracked as he couldn't take the big breath he wanted too.  
  
  
  
“Hey Walter,” Toby called. “Actually, hey everyone.” He waited a second to going on, the weight on his chest didn’t make it easy to breathe and talk.  
“I’m a bit emotional right now and I don't think I want to go into the schmaltzy speech we always try to do when we're dying, but I really want to say thanks to each one of you for a different reason.”  
“I’m almost there, hold on!” Walter said, but Toby ignored him.  
“So, thank you.” Toby concluded.  
Toby could hear them rambling but he stopped to listen and focused on Happy.  
“But mostly thank to you, Happy.” He whispered so low that only her could hear him.  
“Don't go there, Toby, please.” She whispered too.  
“I won't.” He reassured her. “Can I just say thanks to my wife?”  
“If that's the deal.” Happy put a hand on his face. “Thank you, Doc.”  
A tired smile appeared on Toby’s lips.  
She caressed his cheeks, her thumb tracing his cheekbone.  
She could feel the weight on her chest and she noticed how his breath was so slow compared to hers. She closed her eyes and tried to slower down her breath.  
She felt his hand on her cheeks too.  
“Please, look up.” He said.  
There was too much silence now. They can hear Paige’s sobs through the comms.  
Happy looked up, but at him.  
“Happy.”  
“No.”  
The cement was at the base of her neck.  
Toby felt himself dying even more than he was already dying.  
Isolating himself from everything, he lowered his head and he kissed her.  
He closes his eyes for a moment.  
The cement at her chin.  
“Look at me, Doc.”  
He did as she ordered.  
“I love you, so much.”  
“I love you too, so much.” He mirrored her.  
“If-” he started. “If they don't make to us in time. Kissing you is exactly how I want to spend eternity.”  
He kissed her once again but they didn't break this time. They stayed like that. As the cement caressed their mouths.  
  
“Happy, Toby. I’m here! Guys! Guys?”


End file.
